This week in lifelogging: the medici effect and better brains with butter

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Dr Spinn examines the lifelogging trend and “the medici effect”

Jerry Silfwer a.k.a. Dr Spinn (image from drspinn.com)

Swedish expat and PR guy Jerry Silfwer, a.k.a Dr Spinn, has a blog where he mostly writes about PR and communication. This week though, we were glad to see a whole long post about lifelogging. He takes a bit of a new approach to the subject: from the perspective of the self-help trend, via lifehacking and gamification, to the emerging market of lifelogging gadgets and the benefits and challenges with it. It’s a recommended read, if you haven’t already! (Not only because he mentions Memoto in the end…)

“It’s called the medici effect, the intersection between different fields of innovation suddenly sparks more innovation and also sparks exciting new adaptation curves. The technology exists, the demand is emerging and now we’re only waiting for the products to fully integrate with our online lives.

Why, you might ask? The answers will surely come. One thing is for sure, what gets measured gets done. And who knows what cross-referencing data-sets and analytics applications will be able to teach us about ourselves?”

Withings wonders at smart glasses

There’ve been a lot of gossips and guesses around Google’s “Project Glass” this summer. With so much rumors in the air, it’s interesting to hear what the guys at Withings, who are truly experienced in the field of lifelogging devices, have to say about it. We’re not going to steal the show here, but let you look for yourself.

One paragraph we find extra interesting though, and it is an area we will get back to in this blog future on:

“There are also still some unresolved issues with Google glasses, as well as any other similar products. For instance, all the privacy concerns that already exist in relation to cell phones or social networks are multiplied ten-fold when discussing a product that will not only stays with you at all times, but sees everything you see.”

Lady Gaga with Google Glasses (image from andlaaligarh.com)

Our guess, and hope, is that these kinds of privacy concerns will be solved human to human. Withings’ mentioning of cell phones is appropriate: just like we’ve agreed on turning off the phone in the cinema or in a meeting, there will evolve a social contract on when and when not to wear recording devices. After all, most people don’t want to offend other people around them and will try to adapt to the context. Or what do you think?

The other one is Evernote’s recurring recap of Evernote’s own blog posts from the week. Could be a bit navel-gazing with a round-up of your own content, if it wasn’t for the productivity (hey, there you go again, RescueTime!) of the blog’s contributors. The Evernote service is not only a need-to-have tool, but the blog is also both entertaining and full of useful tips and tricks. Published on Sundays.